High blood pressure: Best diet to follow to lower your reading

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September 12, 2019

High blood pressure affects one in four people, according to government figures, but many people don’t know they have it. This is because symptoms are rarely noticeable – the only sure way to find out if you have the condition is to have your blood pressure regularly checked. Your GP or local pharmacist can do this for you or blood pressure monitors are available to buy so you can check your reading yourself at home. But even better than regularly checking your blood pressure, it’s important to do what you can to prevent high blood pressure, or to control it if you’ve been diagnosed with the condition.

Experts recommend the DASH diet to control blood pressure

High blood pressure, or hypertension, can often be prevented or reduced by eating healthily.

The NHS recommends as a general rule to cut down on the amount of salt in your food and to eat plenty fruit and vegetables.

It explains: “Salt raises your blood pressure. The more salt you eat, the higher your blood pressure. Aim to eat less than 6g (0.2oz) of salt a day, which is about a teaspoonful.

“Eating a low-fat diet that includes lots of fibre, such as wholegrain rice, bread and pasta, and plenty of fruit and vegetables also helps lower blood pressure.

“Aim to eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables every day.”

But when it comes to an overall diet to follow, experts recommend the DASH diet.

The DASH diet stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension and focuses on portion size, consuming a wide variety of foods, and obtaining the proper amounts of nutrients.

As part of the DASH diet dieters consume less sodium or salt and increase their intake of magnesium, calcium and potassium – minerals that help lower blood pressure.

Research published in the journal Hypertension indicates after following the DASH diet for eight weeks, patients with pre-hypertension had an average drop of 6mmHg in systolic blood pressure (the higher number on a reading) and 33mmHg in diastolic blood pressure (the lower number on a reading).